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I’ve been chasing Subaru leaks this spring. First, the upper radiator hose was leaking. Then the radiator popped the upper seam. After all that was fixed I could still smell something – a strong oily odor. More looking reveled the pressure hose for the power steering was weeping.
We bought this car used, an ’04 with 17,000 miles. A marine had had it in storage while he was in Japan. When we got it the resonator and cold air intake were missing.. Also, the panel filter was replaced by one of those that promise big horsepower gains. I put it back to stock but I should have known something was up. But I never looked further.
This is my wifes car, a WRX now with 55K. I always wondered what the 2 liter engine without a turbo was like because this car was pretty anemic. But it always started summer or winter and the only time it gave a CEL was when my wife forgot to screw the gas cap on tight.
So tonight I finished replacing the power steering hoses. In the process I found that the hose clamps on the intake after the air sensor were loose. Somebody, a long time ago had been in there.
I had to drain some antifreeze since the little tank on top of the engine, the one with the second radiator cap, had to come off so I decided to drain it all and replace with fresh, calling it the 60K coolant change.
Once the fluids were topped up it was off for a spin to see if the Subaru was going to offer to overheat. I’ve never had this problem in my life and I never use the special funnel. But this seems to be a constant point of discussion on this forum.
Well, I found I was driving a new car with twice the horsepower as before. What fun. You could really feel the turbo digging in. I didn’t want to come home. All that from a couple of loose clamps. It makes me wonder how much dirt has gone through this engine.
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Thank you but actually it is performance we never had before. The car came to us that way. In changing out the power steering kit there was only one vacuum hose I disconnected. So, pretty hard screwing that up.
The question is, how could a car limp around for 38K without complaint. So, it is a surprise and something I need to think about.
The only explanation I can offer to your question is that either someone didn’t realize it, or it didn’t matter. I do coverer these types of issues in this article.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues
Thanks very much for sharing your experience with us.
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